Sunday, 21 December 2014

Ammi came to my room and pulled
away the bed sheet from me. I wanted to sleep for some more time. When Ammi
came and whispered in my ear what was for breakfast, I jumped from bed. She
kissed me and laughed seeing my enthusiasm. I brushed and went to Abbu. Irfan
was sitting in Abbu’s lap. Seeing me, Abbu asked both of us to get ready for
school.

At the breakfast table, Ammi and
Abbu were talking about a marriage to go to in the evening. I told Abbu that I
do not want to go. These marriages are so boring. Abbu said “I know Abbu’s Zubi
will come”. That was Abbu’s trick to get me to do something which I did not
want to. When he said that, I also never
protestedJ. That was our sacred agreement. As
usual, Irfan left behind one last spoon of cereal. Ammi came and fed him that.
He always does that!

We were getting late. Abbu started
his motorbike. I sat behind and Irfan sat in the front. Ammi wiped my face with
her duppatta and I screamed “Ammi, I am not a child anymore!”. She laughed and
said “Sorry daadima”. We reached a signal. Abbu asked me “Zubi, what are you
going to be when you grow up?”. “Abbu, I want to be a pilot and I will fly you
around the world in my plane”. I could see in the mirror that Abbu was beaming
with pride. He asked Irfan “ Beta, what do you want to become?”. He said “
Abbu, I will become an officer like you”. The signal turned green. I hugged
Abbu even tighter. We reached school and we got down. Abbu, “where do you want
me to take you when I become a pilot?” Abbu smiled and said “Take me to the
doorstep of Jannat and drop me there my dear”. I did not like that answer at
all!

After the assembly, we all went to
our classrooms. The first hour got over. I saw that Ammi had kept Irfan’s
lunchbox in my bag. I stepped out of the classroom and went to Irfan’s class. I
gave the box and was walking down to my classroom. I saw some uncles running
towards me. They were in the uniform. For a minute, I thought they were Abbu’s
friends. Then, one of them ran towards me and held me by my hair. What mistake
did I do? I screamed out my teacher’s name. The teacher came out and they shot
at my teacher using guns. I tried crying but I couldn’t and my body started shivering.
I said “Sorry uncle. I won’t do it again”. I did not know what I did to make
him angry. Then before I could say anything, he took out his gun and shot me.

I hope they did not do anything to
my friends. I pray to God that Irfan is safe. What will my Ammi do
without me? I am the one who always go for shopping with her. Who will she go
with now? Who will polish Abbu’s shoes? Who will Irfan play with? How will I take Abbu on a world tour?
What will happen to my dreams?

Zubeida, Peshawar,Dec16th

Anyone who has ever been with a
child at least for a day would know that all a child is capable of is to Love. Have
you seen a child getting scared? Their eyes go wide and they look at someone
who can protect them. If you have ever been in such a position, you would give
your life to protect that child. Imagine what those children would have gone
through in those class rooms. Can you fathom what bottomless trench of grief the
parents will be going through? How will they ever overcome the guilt of not
being able to protect their children?

There are moments in eternity where
the entirety of humanity weeps for the loss of its own self. 16th day of December in Peshawar,
Pakistan was one such moment. We shouldn’t let it pass. Even if it suffocates
ones heart and soul every time one thinks of it, one shouldn’t forget this blot
on the consciousness of mankind.

Sunday, 14 December 2014

Pushpak Viman Chronicles

If you are a frequent flyer, there
are certain things one cannot help but notice about the way people behave in an
airport and on board a flight. The pattern is so obvious that one has to be
blind to not make a note of it.

Let us begin with the airports. The
first rush is to screen the baggage. Once the baggage is screened, we move to
the check in counters. Many a time, this turns out to be a long winding queue.
Some of us who are not used to standing in a disciplined queue make the
frustration obvious by making random remarks. Most questions are rhetoric. “Why
aren’t all the counters open?”, “Are the staff on leave?”, “Do they know what
customer service is!” and it goes on and on. The person standing at the front
of queue is in an LOC kind of a spot. He/she needs to be really alert and go in
to the next counter which becomes free. Delay it by a second and the people
standing behind you will start producing random sounds and rhetoric like the
ones we saw above.

At the counter, the overworked –
exhausted ground staff gives you a forced smile and a welcome greeting. If one
is carrying excess baggage, one should pay for it. Instead what do we do?
Random rhetoric comes here again “This is not the first time I am flying!”. “I
am never flying by your airline again!”. During boarding, the ground staff
announce clearly that the rows at the back need to board first so that there is
less congestion inside the aircraft. But who are they kidding? Everyone from
rows 1 to 16 will be at the counter demanding to get in first, shouting and arguing
with them.

More interesting things happen
inside the aircraft. This starts with NOT greeting the cabin crew at the door.
Again the over worked – exhausted cabin crew greets each and every passenger at
the door. Most of us don’t even have the courtesy to look at them. Now starts
the efforts to place the cabin baggage. Ideally, one should quickly place it in
the overhead cabin and take one’s seat. But no! We take our own sweet time,
place the bag exactly above our head and then look around and stand in the way!
After getting everyone seated just when the cabin crew get ready for safety
briefing, we feel thirsty and if the water is not served in the next 10
seconds, starts the rhetoric again!

The safety briefing is the most
futile exercise I have ever seen. Right at that moment, many of us get occupied
like never before. Some of us will be reading the newspaper or a book, others
will be busy with the cellphones and some will look anywhere else but towards
the person doing the safety briefing. The underlying vibe here is that I am a
frequent flyer and I need not listen to the briefing! Don’t even get me started
with the food and beverage being served. Yes I agree that most of it is so
synthetic that you don’t feel like even chewing them let alone enjoy the taste.
But there is a menu card and these are the only options available. Why should
one start enquiring about the spread as if it were a 5 star restaurant buffet? Then
there are some people who would want to visit the wash room exactly during take off
and landing. I do not know what adrenalin rush they get from doing this!

The funniest part comes during the
landing. The moment an aircraft lands, people get up as if they are poked from
beneath the seats! They start opening the overhead cabin and pulling the bags
with absolutely no concern if the baggage is hitting an elderly person nearby
or a child. Everyone knows that the door will open only after a while and until
and unless people in the front rows get out, people in the subsequent rows
cannot move. But no, neither will they sit down nor will they stop taking out
their bags. You might think they are trying to save time. But these people have
to go and stand at the baggage belt till their bags arrive. However fast these
people arrive there, it takes some time for the baggage to reach the belt from
the aircraft. Not to mention, ignoring the cabin crew who thank us continues
during exiting the aircraft also.

We do all this and wonder why the
foreigners look down on us at the airports!